Editing Bush rat (section)

== Taxonomy ==
The description of the species by [[G. R. Waterhouse]] was published in the second part of the series ''[[Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle]]'', edited by [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name="Darwin1839" /><ref name="MSW3" /> The species was assigned to the genus ''[[Mus (genus)|Mus]]'', a once broader classification, and later placed with the genus ''[[Rattus]]''. The collection of the type specimen was made when HMS ''Beagle'' was anchored at [[King George Sound]], a port at the southwest of the continent. The capture was noted by Darwin as "caught in a trap baited with cheese, amongst the bushes ...".<ref name="Darwin1839" /> The type locality has been determined as [[Little Grove, Western Australia]], {{convert|6|km|spell=in}} south of Mount Melville in the city of [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]]. The population is regarded as the ''fuscipes'' species group, as the species has received various treatments of subspecies.<ref name="MSW3" />

Four subspecies are recognised, each occurring in different regions or habitat, these are<ref name="Menkhorst2011" />
* ''Rattus fuscipes assimilis'', common in the coastal region of the south and east of continent, Rockhampton, Queensland to Timboon in Victoria
* ''Rattus fuscipes coracius'', north-east Queensland, Cooktown and Townsville, in rainforest at low or high altitudes
* ''Rattus fuscipes fuscipes'', the nominate found in south-west Australia extends from Jurien Bay to Israelite Bay
* ''Rattus fuscipes greyii'', southern subspecies found from Eyre Peninsula to west of Portland in Victoria

The subspecies ''R. fuscipes coracius'' was once supposed to share a closer ancestry with the Cape York species ''[[Rattus leucopus]]'', which share a distribution range, although later evidence has not supported this morphological similarity.<ref name="MSW3" />